Safety rail-joint fastener



March 24, 1925.

1,531,216 J. O. FHELPS SAFETY RAIL JOINT FASTENER Filed Aug. 20, 1924 2Sheets-Sheet v'fastener in two identical Patented Mar. 24, 1925.

, UNITED STATES i Jon O. PHELPS, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

slum RAIL-JOINT FASTENEB.

Application mea August 2o, 1924.' semi no. 18am.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN O. PHELPs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Los Angeles, in the co.inty of Los'Angelesand State ol'California, have invented new1 and useful Improvements in SafetyRail-Joint Fasteners, of which the following is a specilication.

This invention relates to safety rail-joint fasteners.

An object is to provide a fastener consisting of two identical pieces,each of which is adapted to be used in either right hand or left. handposition as arranged in a set for -clamping the ends of two railstogether.

Another object is to provide a rail-joint 'fastener which not onlyprovides means for clr-unping the contiguous ends ot' rails, but forms arigid chair to eliminate loose and low joints.

Another object is to provide'` a rail-joint fastener which will allowfor the natural expansion and contraction of the rails.

Another object is to provide n rail-joint ieces which may be readilycast or forged and assembled without joints or other pieces. 1

Another object 'is to provide a rail joint fastener consisting of a pairot'identical clamp members mutually co-operating Wedgc-'lashion in theclamping ot ruil ends.

Another object is to provide a rail-joint fastener which may be securelyconnected to the rails and to the ties to prevent creeping.

Another object is to provide a rail-joint fastener having a singlelocking melnber for all of the nuts. I

Another object is to provide .a rail-joint fastener to engage the railsYand lock the' rails together by.friction.

Other objects and advanta es will appear from the drawings and specication.

The drawings illustrate the construction and operation of a railvjointfastener embodying the principles of my invention.

Figure l is a top plan view of the two identical rail-joint fastenerpieces in postion as when ready to go together.

Fig. 2 .is a fragmentary sectional detail ot' an assembled rail-jointincluding my railjoint. fasteners shown in Fig. 1, the Webs ot the railshein broken away to show the con4 struction, and the View being taken onthe lines of Figs. 3 and 5 and looking downwardly as indicated by thearrows.

lgroovcd jaws Si and 10.

Fig. 3 is e. cross section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2 and looking in thedirection indi cated by the arrows.

Fig. 4- is s perspective of one of the bolts for connecting thefasteners together through the rail as shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation looking in the direction indicated by thearrow 5 in Fig. 2,

Fig. is a fragmentary horizontal longitudinal section on the line 6-6 ofFig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective-'ot one end oi' the nut. lock membershown in Fig. 5.

Fig. S is a perspective of one of the railjoint. fastener pieces shownin Fig. 1.

Fig. 9 is a cross section showin@r a modified construction of therail-joint Fasteners as made and applied to a high rail such as a streetcar rail.

The details of construction and operation shown in the drawings are asfollows:

The rail-joint fastener includes a pair of identical chair and clampingmembers l and 2. The members 'l and 2 cach have a central body 3 and 4having a plain to face on which the bases andG ot the rai s rest. At theouter sides ot the central bodies and 4 are recesses 7 and 8 and at theouter sides of the recesses are lateral under- The outer sides 11 and l2ot' the recesses 7 and 8 are slightly inclined when seen in plan as inFig. 1 and the jaws Si and 10 are correspondingly inclined relative tothe straight line the rails will occupy and the inner ends of the jawsare farther from this line than the outer ends, as required to maltewedge-shaped sockets. The member 2 has a wedgeshaped poi-tion 13 to lit.in the recess 7 and has an inclined outer edge. 14 to engage under thejaw 9, and the member 1 has a wedge-shaped portion 15 with an inclinedouter edge 16 to tit in the recess 8 under the jaw 10.

A square spike hole 1T is formed through the portion 13, the sides ofthe hole being diagonal to the line of the rail and an edjuslablespilie'hole is formed through the` plate 1S forming the bottom ot therecess T, this spike hole having portions 19, 20 and 21, anyone of whichwill closely tit a spike driven through the spike hole 17 'so as tomalte means for adjustment when the portion i3 driven into the recessi', whereas it only a. single spike hole were formed through the platefr? there would be. no adjustineu't. The sniin passing through the hele.ii would. ne retienen pass thro-sgh.

the hole in the plate 18 whether it made a tight tit or not.

In a like manner, a square spike hole 22 is formed through the portion15 diagonal to the line of the rail and a spike hole having theportionsand 24 and 25 is formed in the plate 26 forming the bottom of the recess8. The portion 27 of the member 1 extends from the portion 16 to theopposite end of the member and is offset downwardly to a level of thelower face of the central body 3. and in a like manner the portion 28 ofthe member 2 extends from the portion 13 to the opposite end of themember and is oset downwardly to form the lowerface 29 on a level withthe lower face of the body 4. The cover portions 30 and 31 extendinwardly and upwardly from the opposite sides of the bodies 3 and 4'from the recesses 7 and 8 and from the portions 13 and 16 to engage theupper faces 32 and 33 of the bases 5 and 6, as shown in Fig. 3.

Clamping members 3-1- and 35 extend Aup-v wardly from the inner edges ofthe? portions 30 and 31 and have reinforcing ribs36 and' 37 extendingfrom their outer 'faces outwardly and downwardly to the portions 3 and31. Ribs CES and 39 extend inwardly along the upper edges of theclamping members 34 and 35 to engage the webs 40 of the rails 5 and 6just under the treads 41 and space the clamping members 34 and 35 fromthe webs 40. Bulbs 42 and 43 extend outwardly from the upper edges ofthe clamping members 34 and 35 in the horizontal plane ot' the ribs 38and 39, the outer faces 44 and 45 being rounded from the top downwardlyand outwardly and extending heyond the side faces of the treads 41.Clamping bolts 46 are inserted through the clampying members 34 and andtl'irough the webs 40, the heads 47 of the bolts being under the bulb 42and the nuts 48 of the bolts beingr under the bulb 43, so that it' a carwheel runs off the tread 411 and falls downwardly at either side of therail the bulbs 42 and 453 will protect the heads 47 and the nutsv 48, soas not to break the bolts 46.

Referring to Figs. I, 2 and 3, the members 1 and 2 may be placed asshown ready to go together, und the rail bases 5 and 6 placed upon vthecentral bodies 3 and fl: with the' meeting point 49 of the railssubstantially half way between two ties 5l) and 51. Then the members land 2 are driven firmly toward each other with the portion 17 passinginto the recess 8 and the portion 13 passing into the recess '7 and theribs 38 and 39 pasfiug under the heads 41 until the rail ends are iirmlygripped. Then the spike 52 and 53 may be driven through the spike holes`17 and 22 into any one of the portions 19, '26 and 21 of the spikel'iolein the plate and the portions 23, 24 and 25 of the spike hole in theplate 26.y the spikes 52 and 53 being diagonal to the line of the rail.A spike hole 54'is forined in the member 1 at the opposite side from therecess 7 and a similar spikehole 535 is formed in the member 2 at theopposite side from the recess 8 and ordinary spikes 56 and 57 are driveninto these holes 54 and The bolts 46 hav(` heads 47 and oval necks 58larger than the bodies 59. 'lhe bolt holes 60 through' the clampingmembers 34 and 35 are longitudinally elongated as shown in Fig. 8, itbeing understood that the holes 6() in both members are alike. When itcomes to applying these bolts, as in Fig. 6, the necks 58 of the boltslits closely in the holes 60 of the member 1 and lit closely in the boltholes 61 in webs Jr() and the round portion or body59 of each bolt titsloosely in the opening 60 in the member 2, thereby providing forexpansion and contraction of the rails to the extent of the loosenessot' the parte and 5to the extent allowed for movement of the bolt bodies59 longitudinal- 1y ot' the rails ,in the holes 60.

In assembling a rail-joint fastener as shown and described, the nuts 48will be all upon one side as*'slio\vn in Fig. 5, and should all betightened 'to squared positions, so that the nut lockingbar 62 will litbetween the nuts 48 and the corresponding bulb 43 to hold the nuts fromturning. The bar 62 is held in place by arms 63 and 6l extending atright angles to the body of the bar and having teeth 65 and 66 to snappast the ends of the clamping member 35. as shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

Referring to Fig. 9, the web 67 of the rail is extra high and theclamping members have ribs '70 and '71 extending` from their inner facesat opposite sides ofthe bolts 72, so that when the bolts 72 aretightened the ribs 7() and 71 will grip the web 67 and will hold theclamping members 68 and 69 from collapsing under the tension or pull ofthe bolts. Various changes may be made without departing from the spiritof the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. A safety rail-joint fastener comprising a pair' of substantiallyidentical gripping members having mutually Wedging action to clamp uponrail ends, each member including a transverse end body portion having atone side a wedge shaped portion and at the other side an under groovedjaw and each jaw having an overhanging arm for wedging co-operation withthe wedge shaped portion of the companion member in :t fastener, therebeing a square spike hole in the upper one of the wedging members, thesides of lhe hole being diagonal to the line of the rail, and therebeing an adjustable hole in the lower one of the wedging members, saidholes being adapted lo receive a ike driven downwardly through ltheassem led wedging members into a tie.

'2. In a safety rail-)oint fastener, a pair of substantiall identicalgripping members having mutually wedging action to clamp upon Arailends, the upper one of the wedging members having a me spike hole, thesides of the hole being agonal to the line of the rail, and there beingan adjustable hole in the lower one of the'wedging members, the sides ofthe hole being diagonal v to the line of the rail and the relative sidesing a transverse end body portion having at one side a wedge shapedportion and at thc other side an under grooved aw and each jaw having anoverhanging arm for wedgmg co-operation with with the wedge shapedportieri of the companion member in a fastener, there being spike holesfor attaching the ripping members to ties and there being horizontalbolt holes for the insertion ot bolts through the horizontal holes andthrough the rails to be gripped, so as to connect thc rails to theties.4 through the gripping members as required to prevent creeping.

fl. ln a rail-joint fastener, gripping mem.- bers adapted to engage theWebs of the meeting ends ofruils', bolts inserted through the grippingmembers and through the rails with the nuts all on one side and adjustedto square up and down and horizontal positions, a nut locking baradapted to be fitted tightly between the tops of the nuts, and anpverhanging bulb .upon each gripping memier.

5.1In a. rail-joint fastener, ipping members adapted to en age the w softhe meeting ends of rails, lts inserted through the gripping members andthrough the rails with the nuts all on one side and adjusted to squareup and down and horizontal ositions, a. nut locking bar adapted to betted tightly between the tops of the nuts, an overhangi'ng bulb uponeach gripping member, and arms extending from the end of the bar andhaving teeth adapted to snap 'around the end 'of the gripping member. n6. A safety' rail-joint fastener comprising 4a pair of substantiallyidentical gripping members having mutually wedging action to clamp uponrail ends, each member including a transverse end body portion having atone side a Wedge shaped portion and at the other side an undergroovedjaw part and each jaw part having an overhanging arm for wedgingco-operation with the wedge shaped portion of the companion member in afastener, there being spike holes for at taching the .gripping membersto ties and there being horizontal bolt holes for the insertion of boltsthrough 'the horizontal holes and through the rails to be gripped, so asto connect the rails to the ties through the gripping members asrequired to prevent creeping, and there being longitudinall extendingribs upon the inner faces o the gripping members to support the grippingmembers when bolts are inserted through the gripping members and therail Webs.

ln testimony'whereof I have signed my name to this specification. f

JoHNl o. PHELPs.

